Wawa and bank plan to get conditional use hearing in West Norriton

WEST NORRITON ­­— The board of commissioners will hold a conditional use hearing Tuesday evening on a proposed Wawa, bank and retail building at the intersection of Main Street and Trooper Road.

The West Norriton Planning Commission reviewed the proposal by Pinewood Trooper Associates LP on Jan. 21 and recommended approval for the project, said Township Manager Jason Bobst. The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the township building.

The proposed development would locate the Wawa at the former Gateway Diner at 2540 W. Main St. The 5,500-square-foot market will have 16 gasoline pumps located on four gasoline islands under an overhead canopy.

A 3,800-square-foot Citadel Bank branch office would be located at the corner of West Main Street and Trooper Road where a gasoline station has operated for several years.

Advertisement

The 8,000-square-foot, one-story commercial building would be located at the edge of the 6.9-acre site next to the Wawa. The three separate uses would have a total of 146 parking spaces located in front of and behind the three buildings. Joseph Botta of Schuylkill, Chester County, and Bruce Goodman of Abington are the developers of the three-building project.

The plan includes a full-access driveway on the southern side of Main Street about 470 feet south of the Trooper Road center line, a full-access driveway on the eastern side of Trooper Road about 280 feet south of the Main Street centerline and a limited access driveway to Main Street that will restrict left-turn exits, located about 230 feet south of the Trooper Road centerline.

“Wawa did an informal presentation at the (commissioner’s) workshop session on Feb. 5,” Bobst said Friday morning. “This was the same presentation they made to the planning commission with the waivers they are requesting.”

Bobst was optimistic that the Wawa proposal will be adopted Tuesday night.

“It seemed to be very well received by the commissioners. The proposal was very detailed,” Bobst said. “The commissioners seemed agreeable to the waivers.”

There were very few questions from the residents in attendance at the workshop session, Bobst said.

“They accommodated all the changes that the staff requested made during the planning process,” he said.

Kevin Chavous, the design planner for the Montgomery County Planning Commission, made several recommendations to improve the project with landscaping, screening and sidewalk connections in a Jan. 18 letter to the township.

“The township should consider whether additional streetscape improvements (sidewalks, landscaping, lighting and signage) along both the West Main Street and Trooper Road frontages of the tract are necessary to satisfy these goals,” Chavous wrote. “The landscape plan appears to be deficient with respect to the screening of loading areas and trash refuse facilities. Also, no parking lot landscaping has been proposed.”

A pedestrian connection had not been made between the sidewalk on West Main Street and the commercial building on the plans, he said in the letter.

“We point out that additional plantings or design elements (like ornamental fencing/walls) may be needed to effectively screen perpendicular parking areas in the front of the proposed convenience store and commercial building,” Chavous said.

Because West Main Street is designated as a primary bicycle route by Montgomery County, Chavous recommended “bike racks/secure bicycle parking facilities be provided somewhere on-site. Such facilities should be easily accessible, clearly visible from building entrances and furnished with lighting.”

A Nov. 26, 2012, traffic impact study by Traffic Planning and Design of Pottstown recommended the developer build a new, northbound right-turn lane on Trooper Road to improve traffic capacity at the intersection along the site frontage.

The study estimated the total number of “new” auto trips in a 24-hour weekday would be 4,418 trips for the Wawa, 300 for the proposed bank and 144 for the retail stores. The Wawa would generate 2,205 entering trips and 2,213 exit trips, the study said.

Andy Heinrich, the traffic engineer for West Norriton, has recommended that the developer look at restricting the left-turn movements out of the proposed Trooper Road entrance and exit driveway because northbound and right-turn traffic on Trooper Road may block those left turns, Bobst said. A time restriction and signage could prohibit the left turns during peak morning and afternoon drive times.

“He (Heinrich) has some questions about the traffic numbers for the retail building. They have not decided what the retail uses will be,” Bobst said. “Three separate uses are expected for the retail building. Andy asked them to go back and look at some additional traffic numbers.”

The current traffic count from the study for eastbound traffic on Main Street during the weekday a.m. peak hour is 47 left turns, 670 through trips and 170 right turns. The count for westbound traffic on Main Street is 74 left turns, 290 through trips and 29 right turns. On Trooper Road, the northbound traffic count is 166 left turns, 352 through trips and 128 right turns. On southbound Trooper Road, there are 42 left turns, 439 through trips and 23 right turns.